Trust in Me
by darkheart753
Summary: Rated T for language, implied Shadouge.


The following story contains some religious content that may offend people. Also, all of the characters are twice as tall as normal, so Shadow would be 6'6", Tails would be around 3'3", and so on. Finally, it's just a short story, so it's only one page long. Don't expect me to add any chapters. It does contain Shadouge elements, but it isn't very straightforward.

Rated T for language and drug use.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic X.

**Trust in Me**

_Rouge was running. From what, she didn't know, but it was chasing her. Her breath was ragged as her feet pounded the ground. She skid to a stop at the edge of a cliff and looked back. She gasped and backed up. Before she knew it, she was falling off the edge. She caught the side and held for her life. The chaser grabbed her hands with menacing claws and looked into her eyes. She gasped as it began laughing maniacally._

_She felt a shiver down her spine as it pulled her up so that they were eye to eye. It kissed her on the mouth and she recognized the creature. It was Shadow, her best friend. "Trust me." He snarled uncannily. He began laughing nastily and paused. "HAH!" He laughed, releasing her hands. She began to fall to her doom…_

"Huh!" Rouge gasped as she sat up in bed. She was panting heavily and sweat covered her body. She wiped some sweat off of her forehead and got out of bed, pulling on her robe. She tiptoed past Shadow's bedroom and walked into the kitchen. She looked at the clock: 3 a.m. She started making the coffee and heard footsteps behind her.

"ROUGE, WHY ARE YOU UP SO EARLY?" A metallic voice asked. She turned around. It was E-123 Omega. "MY SENSORS INDICATE THAT YOU ARE TROUBLED BY A SERIES OF MOVING PICTURES THAT APPEARED IN YOUR HEAD WHILST YOU WERE BETWEEN A BED SHEET AND A BLANKET."

"Oh, it's nothing. I just had a nightmare and couldn't get back to sleep."

"WHAT WAS IT ABOUT? MAYBE I CAN DECIPHER ITS HIDDEN MEANINGS."

"Well, I dreamed that I was running, and I stopped at a cliff. Then, I heard a noise behind me and backed up over the edge of the cliff. After that, the thing that was chasing me grabbed my hands, told me to trust it, and then let me fall."

"DID YOU SEE WHAT WAS CHASING YOU?"

"It was Shadow."

"PROCESSING… PROCESSING…"

"Somebody talking about me?" Came a voice from the staircase. Shadow was standing at the base with his arms crossed, wearing nothing but a pair of black jeans and socks. His hair was still in a state of disarray, so Rouge assumed that he had just woke up.

"No. I was just telling Omega about the nightmare I had last night."

"Oh. I wish I could help you, really, but I've never experienced any 'nightmares.' Gerald promised me he'd fix that little glitch, but…" Shadow turned around and scratched the back of his head. "Aw, you know the rest." He leaned up against the wall and looked at his watch. "Shit, I slept in late. I need to get to work in an hour."

"Shadow, it's three thirty."

"Yeah. I have to be at headquarters at four thirty or my ass is grass. I'm going to go get ready." Shadow ran up the stairs and stepped into the bathroom. "Omega, how many times do I have to tell you that the toilet is not a fucking oil change facility?" He shouted down the stairs angrily. He walked into the shower and started taking a shower.

Rouge looked back at E-123 Omega and bit the inside of her cheek, shaking her head. "You used the toilet for an oil change?"

"IT WAS THE ONLY ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND METHOD OF DISPOSING OF MY FUEL CORE."

A few minutes later, Shadow came back downstairs, fully dressed in a tuxedo and tightening his tie. "I'm off."

"Which HQ are you heading to?"

"The one north of here, 'bout a hundred mile route by car."

"Shadow, that's a two hour drive. How do you expect to make it there on time? The jet is in the shop, your motorcycle is out of gas, and my car can't go faster than one hundred miles per hour."

"Who said I was going to take a vehicle? Tails managed to find the bug in my jet pack AND my air shoes, so I'm taking the shoes. Less conspicuous, you see."

"Oh, right, a red bolt of light zooming through the woods isn't going to be spotted."

"No, but a black hedgehog in a jet pack hundreds of miles over the ground moving at two hundred miles an hour will be spotted sooner." Shadow smirked and opened the door. His jaw dropped as he looked out into the snow. "Oh… yeah… fuck." He turned around and pointed outside. "See, now it was a good thing I got up an hour and a half early. See ya." He shut the door as he walked out and sped off, ramming his feet on the ground to switch on the shoes.

"I HAVE DECIPHERED YOUR DREAM. IT MEANS YOU MUST TRUST YOUR FRIENDS WITH YOUR LIFE, OR IT SHALL LEAD TO THE UNTHINKABLE. KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE AND YOUR ENEMIES CLOSER."

"Are you saying it was some sort of warning about Shadow?"

"IF THE BATTERY-POWERED ARM ROCKET CANNON FITS, INSTALL IT INTO YOUR MAIN DATABASE AND ALLOW ITS FUNCTIONS TO BE OPERATIONAL."

"I'm going to pretend like I don't know what that means."

"AS YOU ORGANIC LIFE FORMS SAY, IF THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT."

"Ah." Rouge walked up the stairs, went into her room, and got dressed in her usual clothes.

At HQ, Shadow managed to get to his office exactly at four thirty. "Phew. That was close." He walked to his desk and sat down in his chair, paging through a few job requests that were sitting on his desk. As he reached the bottom of the pile, his boss stomped in.

"Why the heck are you late?"

"Sir, I got into my office at exactly four thirty. That's when I was told to be at work today."

"No, you were supposed to be here for the meeting at four thirty. Your shift was supposed to start an hour ago."

"Well, _maybe_ if I would have been _notified,_ I would have _been_ here on _time_, so back the _fuck _off!"

"Don't back sass me. I own you."

"You own me? YOU OWN ME? Bull shit! You don't own a fucking strand of the hair on my head!"

"Do you want to get fired?"

"Fire my ass if you don't like it! But remember this: when I finish with you after you fire me, you'll be shitting through your mouth and talking out your ass!"

"You really want to get fired, don't you?"

"Fuck yourself."

"That's it. You're fired!"

"Thank you, Job Gods. You have saved my ass from a boring life once again." Shadow grabbed his coat and pushed past his ex-boss. "Oh, and by the way Mr. Gates, you can lick a sugar-frosted fuck right off the end of my dick. And if you don't like that, I've got three words for you. Kiss my ass."

He walked downstairs and looked over at the counter woman. She was a beautiful, orange bat with flowing blonde hair. At the time, her clothes were a scarlet shirt that showed the midriff, a pair of tight, black pants, and brown combat boots. She looked at Shadow with her baby blue eyes and raised an eyebrow. "Why are you leaving so early, Tiger?"

Shadow smirked at her nickname for him and shrugged. "I just got canned. I'm off to celebrate at a bar." He gave her thumbs up and turned towards the door.

"Mind if I join you? It's my morning break time."

"Well… I guess it wouldn't hurt anything." Shadow paused and leaned up against the wall. "That is, if you can keep up."

"Oh please. In your P O S car?"

"I didn't come in my car." Shadow pointed down at his feet. "I ran here."

"And you got here on time?"

"Well, according to my boss I didn't. Excuse me, ex-boss. But pretty much. These aren't ordinary shoes. They're air shoes, designed by one of my best friends… well, only friends."

"How many friends do you have?"

"Including you? I have twelve. Out of a population in this fucking city of ten million, that isn't a very large friend base. I got sort of a reputation for being this bad ass mother fucker of an assassin."

"Well, are you?"

"No."

"I've never experience super speed. What's it like?"

"You're missing out big time, Alice."

"Maybe you could show me some time?"

"I suppose that would be do-able."

"Could you show me on the way to the bar?"

"Sure. We'll get there sooner." Shadow lifted her in his arms and ran to the Westopolis bar.

When they got there, Shadow immediately walked to the bar and sat down. "Hmm…" The bartender turned around and looked at him and Alice. She was a white bat… with black wings… and a cat suit with a pink heart on the chest. "Rouge!"

"Yeah. What are you doing here? And who is she?"

"Well, to answer the first question, I sort of uh… got fired."

"Not again! This is the tenth job this season!"

"I know, I know. I just can't find the right job for me. I've tried policeman, fireman, paramedic, which turned out horribly, lawyer, I never really understood why you suggested that, G.U.N. worker, actor, bartender, photographer, clerk, and an insurance broker. It just isn't working. I can't get used to this… _civilian life_. I'm used to war, battle, guns, fighting until the death, that sort of thing. It's just not easy for me to get back to a peaceful life."

"How about you go back to G.U.N. and get a job as a spy or a soldier?"

"Hmm… that could work."

"You still haven't answered my second question."

"Mmm? Oh, right. This is Alice. She works at the counter at HQ."

"Why is she here with you?"

"Well, I just wanted to spend a bit of time with him."

"Shadow, just a question, are you two…"

"No. No, we're not dating."

"Ah. All right. Any friend of Shadow's can coexist with me." _As long as she isn't kissing him, that is._

"Um… would you please get me a Budweiser?"

"Shadow, the last time you drank a Budweiser, you got all loopy and couldn't stop laughing."

"Fine. Bud light then."

"Fair enough. What about you?"

"I'll take a Pepsi."

"Okay, one beer and one soda, coming right up." Rouge got the nozzles and started pouring their drinks.

"I'm going over to the pool tables to see if anyone wants to play."

Shadow stood up and strolled over to the pool tables, cue stick in hand. The guys stared at him as he lit a cigarette. All of them were at least eight feet tall except for one. He bit the end of it slightly to keep it in his mouth and looked over at them. "What do you want, shrimp?"

"Don't call me a shrimp, you pansy-ass motherfucker." The dark hedgehog snapped. "I'll take you on any day of the week, and you can bring your shit-headed friends with you. I'll fight you all in one day, one on twelve."

"Pretty brave of you, little man." The biggest one reached back and tried to drill Shadow.

He caught the man's fist with two fingers and raised an eyebrow. "You'd best back out of my grill before some seriously fucked up shit happens to you, punk-ass."

"You think you intimidate me, home boy?"

"Oh, so now you're being a racist mother-fucking punk-ass pansy? Just in case you didn't notice, ass-fucker, you're not in a position to fight me. You are taller than me, I'll give you that, but there is no chance in hell that you're stronger than me. And, I have extra three fingers, an arm, and two legs. You're such a lard-ass; you wouldn't be able to balance with one leg. I can balance on my nose, motherfucker.

"Alright, fine. Prove it." The man snapped.

Shadow let go of his hand and smirked. He jumped down onto his hands and toes and lifted his feet from the ground, switching to a handstand. He lowered his face to the ground and picked up one hand. Then, he pressed his nose against the ground and slowly lifted his other hand. Finally, he slowly straightened his body and rested all one hundred-fifty pounds of his weight on his nose.

One of his buddies thought it would be funny to grab Shadow's foot and yank him down to the ground. Shadow crashed on his back and clenched his teeth, resting his upper body weight on his elbows. He glowered up at the man.

Rouge gasped as she heard the crash and looked over. Her eyes widened as she saw the situation Shadow had gotten into with his constant need to have the world in awe. He jumped up and started slowly progressing towards the guy who knocked him down, a fire in his eyes unmatched by even the wildest blaze. He grabbed his shirt and pulled the 5'11" man to sight point. "What the fuck did you do that for, punk?"

"I-I-I… I thought it would…"

"Exactly. You thought. That's the problem with you fools. Your tiny brains can't handle all the thinking you do."

"Hey, punk, don't call us fools. We're anything but stupid, fool."

The biggest one grabbed Shadow's long-injured shoulder and the ebony hedgehog's eyes flashed gold. He snarled and dropped the smaller one, glaring at the hand. "You're touching me."

"Yeah, what's it to you?"

Shadow snatched the hand and threw the guy over his shoulder, slamming him into the pool table. "Nobody touches me unless I give them permission, you fat-ass racist bastard." He grabbed the man's arm and yanked it across hid throat, tying it down to the leg of the table. Then, he tied his other arm to the same leg. He grabbed the rope tying the higher arm and looked down at him. "Now, what was it you called me, shit head?"

"I… called… you… a…. punk… a fool… and a shrimp…" The guy coughed.

"Really? That's what I thought. Now, one more question. What would you do if I let you live to see the sun rise tomorrow morning?"

"I'd do anything! Anything!"

"Alright." Shadow cut the ropes and lifted the fellow off the table with one hand. "Consider this a warning. Listen to me fucker; nobody touches me unless I say they can. You owe me your hide. And you're lucky that she's working today." He nodded towards Rouge. "Because if she wasn't, you wouldn't be breathing."

"Why would you care if she's working or not?" Shadow growled and lifted the guy up, his hair just barely scraping the ceiling fan. "Okay, okay! I got it! Don't mess with you! I feel you, dog!"

"You're being racist again."

"Right, right! No racism, no messing! I got it! I got it!" Shadow lowered the squealing fool down and pressed his first to fingers into the man's chest.

"You. Owe. Me."

"I owe you. Gotcha."

"Good." Shadow turned back to the bar and sat down. He turned around and looked at everyone that was staring at him for the outburst. "Alright, assholes, back to your knitting."

"Shadow, don't you think that was a little unnecessary? And how many times have I asked you to quit smoking?"

"One, no, I don't think it was unnecessary, because that fuck stick needed to be taught a lesson. Two, I didn't keep track. If you don't want me to smoke near you, I'll just go outside and smoke it or something."

"Fine. Just please, Shadow, I don't want you to get lung disease or something."

Shadow blew out a bit of smoke over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so concerned about my health? I've survived semi collisions, rollovers, explosions, bullet wounds, and internal bleeding. Why do you give a rat's ass?"

"I just am, that's all."

"You seem quick to answer those questions. Are you keeping something from me?"

"No."

"Alright. I believe you. Oh, and I need to talk to you in private."

"See you after my shift. Oh, here's your Bud Light."

Shadow chugged down the beer and looked down at his watch. "Alice, your shift restarts in about ten minutes. Do you want me to take you back or can you go yourself?"

"No, I'll go by myself."

"Are you sure? Someone like you can get picked up by somebody or caught in a dark alley and nobody in this town shows mercy to anybody, even after they're redeemed for something."

"I'll be fine. Shadow, I need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"Well… Shadow, I… I'm holding two jobs, but you won't like my other job."

"What is it?"

"Well… I'm a… a prostitute."

Shadow's eyes widened and he raised an eyebrow. "And I need to know this because…"

"Well, I was sort of hoping that we could…"

"Oh, fuck no! Sorry, but I don't play for the cock-sucking asshole who needs to pay to get sex team. I don't need to pay anybody. Do you have any idea how many girls I know who would love to be with me?"

"How many?"

"Hundreds! Do you know why? Most of them are teenagers who want to rebel against their parents. They figure if they date a trouble-maker, their parents will be mad."

"Shadow, I didn't think you were so popular with the girls."

"It's a misconception. I live near this one girl who keeps mistaking me for the guy she has a major crush on. To tell the truth, I'm not sure that she's doing it by accident."

_Shadow, I wish I could tell you how I feel…_ thought Rouge. She looked at the clock and noticed that her shift (it was now three fifty-five p.m.) would end in just a few minutes. She started preparing for the next girl, finishing a minute before it was her time to clock out. Moments passed and she clocked out at precisely four o'clock. "Shadow, you wanted to tell me something in private?"

"Oh, yes. Goodbye forever, Alice." Shadow turned his attention to Rouge and tenderly grabbed her wrist. "Come on." He led her into an alley and leaned against a wall. "Okay, here I go. Rouge, I wanted to tell you this from the moment I met you, but the words sort of… got glued to my tongue and didn't want to come out. You see, I've always… kind of… felt… attracted to you."

"Are you saying that you… like me?"

"Well, not like, per say…" Shadow locked his arms behind his back and started twirling the toe of his foot on the ground.

"You mean you… love me?"

"Well… yes… actually…"

"Then why did you mention the girls that are in love with you?"

"That was for show. I was just trying to get her off my back."

"Shadow… I don't believe you. I don't."

"Wha? Why… why not? I've never lied to you. What reason have you not to believe me?"

"Shadow… I just don't. You've never lied to me, and that's the problem. How do I know you weren't lying about that girls comment?"

"Rouge…" Shadow shook his head in disbelief. "You've got to believe me… you've got to trust me… you've just got to. I…" He backed up, still shaking his head. "Trust me."

Rouge remembered the dream and lowered her head. "I don't." Shadow shut his eyes and clenched his teeth, leaning up against the wall. He didn't say a word. "Shadow…"

"No. Don't bother with me. I'll just be going now." He turned, head lowered. He kicked a can through the alley and went on his way, shoving his hands into his pants pockets. Rouge sighed and started home.

_She… didn't believe me… why? I… I don't… understand._ A tear escaped Shadow's eye as he thought of the sequence of events. _Why doesn't she believe me? I've always been truthful to her. I haven't lied. Not once. Well, there was that one time when I hid my feelings with an excuse to go back to the vault in Eggman's lair, but that was different. That was before I got to know her better. Other than that… I've always told the truth._

"Shadow? Why are you all the way out here, in the open?" He heard a deep voice from high above him. He looked up and instantly spotted Eggman.

"Oh, just go away. I'm not in the mood for a fight."

"Shadow the Hedgehog, not in the mood for a fight? You're always ready to fight!"

"I just don't want to fight, okay? Do you have a fucking problem with that?" Shadow snapped, half in anger, the other in frustration and sorrow.

"Jeez, I was just joking." Eggman lifted himself out of his flying robot and stood next to the teenage hedgehog. "What's eating you?"

"Well… I told Rouge how I felt about her…"

"Uh-huh?"

"But… she didn't believe me. In all the time I've known her, I've only lied once, so she doesn't have a very good reason to not believe me. Why didn't she?" Eggman spotted a tear rolling down the cheek of his grandfather's creation.

"Shadow, don't cry."

"I'm not crying." Shadow half snarled, half whimpered. "It's just…"

"I know how you feel. You've been shot down by the love of your life. "

"Yes, but… she knows I love her, and she's always saying she's always there for me. Was that a lie too?"

"It could have been."

"Maybe I should just walk out of Team Dark and go back to the way I used to be, just a loose cannon without a care in the world."

"Shadow, the world needs you."

"Yeah, well maybe I don't need the world." He growled. "Maybe all I need is a full tank of gas, a gun, and a contract sold to the highest bidder."

"In that case, maybe you could do something for me."

"Yeah, well, whatever it is, I don't care. I need something, anything, to take my mind off of Rouge."

"Well, here's the plan." Eggman began filling Shadow in on the details.

"ROUGE, MY SENSORS INDICATE THAT SHADOW IS NOT WITHIN CITY LIMITS. DO YOU KNOW WHERE HE IS? WE JUST GOT A JOB TO DO."

"No."

"WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? THIS MORNING, YOU TWO LEFT HAPPY. YOU COME BACK ALONE, AND YOU'RE SAD. WHAT HAPPENED?" Rouge explained what happened in moments. "WHAT? YOU DID NOT LISTEN TO YOUR DREAM? DID YOU NOT LISTEN TO MY WARNINGS? THIS MAY LEAD TO THE TRIUMPH OF A CRIMINAL MASTERMIND! WE MUST FIND SHADOW."

"Uh-oh. If we can't find him, or we find him dead or worse, I'll never forgive myself."

"IF IT'S ANY CONCELLATION, I WON'T FORGIVE YOU EITHER."

Back with Shadow and Eggman, Shadow was looking down at the suit Eggman had given him. "I constructed it out of an alloy of iron and steel."

"Hmm…"

"I've tested it with all the weapons I could get a hold of. It's sturdy and durable, yet mobile and breathes like Egyptian cotton. What do you think?"

"Hmm… I think this suit may just win this for both of us. The best plus is that it fits me perfectly and it doesn't have your stupid cracked egg symbol on it. I want to put my symbol on it."

"Very well." Shadow pulled off the chest plate and used a stencil to spray his symbol in the upper left hand corner. Then, he gave it his signature shadow around the base.

"This will work great. Thank you." Shadow pulled his Shadow rifle from its holster and smirked. "And now, the game begins."

"So Shadow has been missing ever since then?" Sonic asked.

"Exactly! We can't find him anywhere! We checked the ARK, the bar, his thinking place, even the park! He wasn't in any of those places!" Rouge panted.

"Hmm… did you check Eggman's base?"

"Huh?"

"The last time Shadow got disappointed by someone, he left and went to Eggman. He confides in him. When none of us listen, Eggman is the first to hear about it. He's the only human Shadow even remotely respects. If he's anywhere in this town, it'll be Eggman's hideout."

"Well, come on. Let's go get him." Sonic and the gang ran after Rouge and Omega to find Eggman's base.

Meanwhile, Shadow was standing on a cliff, fully dressed in the metal full-body suit Eggman had created. _Soon, the plan will be put into… hey, is that Sonic down there?_ Shadow peered down and recognized Sonic. _Hmph! Always meddling in my affairs, that one._ He turned around and ran into the hideout to warn Eggman.

"Are you sure, Shadow?"

"Affirmative. I saw it with my own eyes."

"Well, how about you take care of it?"

"Alright." _I'm still wondering why I'm taking orders from my nephew, but alright. _Shadow hit a button and the metal helmet covered his head, leaving only his eyes and his pierced ear visible. His other ear jutted out from the opposite side of the helmet and he ran out the front door to confront Sonic.

"Well, here we are."

"Hold it. What is your business here?" Shadow snarled.

"Shadow, you have to listen to me. Take that helmet off."

"Why should I?" Claws tore out of Shadow's fingertips and he crouched into his fighting stance. "You must leave now. You and all of your friends."

"Shadow, please!" Rouge shouted. "I apologize for what happened before."

"Sorry, babe. I don't trust you."

"Shadow, I'm sorry! I was wrong not to trust you!"

"You should have thought of that before you said anything. Leave now, or suffer dire consequences!"

"You sound like Eggman." Sonic replied curtly.

Shadow snapped into action. Within moments, he had leveled the entire team except for Rouge. "Rouge," Shadow lowered his helmet, "all you had to do was say you didn't love me. That's all I would have needed. But telling me, a hedgehog that only lied once, that you don't trust him? What did I do to deserve your hatred? Why do you hate me like this? That's all I want to know. Why?"

"Shadow, listen to me."

"WHY? You didn't listen to me! You said you were always there for me, but that was a lie too, wasn't it? You said you'd always have my back. Was that a lie as well? How many times have you lied to me?" Tears were beginning to well in his eyes. "What did I do to hurt you so bad? What?"

_Lead to the unthinkable… Omega was right._ "Shadow, please. I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

Shadow shook his head in disbelief, his eyes filled with sadness and anger. "It's too late for apologies! When you said you didn't believe me, it cut me like a knife, and it cut deep. But, I learned something from you. You can't trust anyone but yourself." Shadow glared and crouched into his fighting position. "From now on, Shadow the Hedgehog, the one and only ultimate life form, is a lone wolf." He charged after Rouge and the chase began.

Rouge was running. This time, however, she knew whom from. Her breath was ragged as her feet pounded the ground. She skid to a stop at the edge of a cliff and looked back. She gasped and backed up. Before she knew it, she was falling off the edge. She caught the side and held for her life.

Shadow grabbed her hands and looked into her eyes. "Trust me." When she let go of his hands, he gasped and held them tighter. "Please! You have to trust me, Rouge! Trust me this time! I don't care if you never trust me again, but please, just this once more, believe in me! I won't let you fall unless you let go! Hang on to my wrists, or I won't be able to hold on to you!"

Rouge looked into Shadow's crying eyes and knew he was serious. She clasped his wrists. "I trust you!"

Shadow braced his feet on the ground and started pulling her up from certain doom. He looked into her eyes as he got her back on solid ground and grabbed her shoulders. "Don't ever do that again. I can handle you not loving me, but I can't bear to lose another one. My heart can't take it."

"Shadow… I'm sorry. I should have trusted you from the beginning. None of this would have happened."

"Don't worry about it. What's done is done." Shadow hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head. "I'm just glad that you trust in me."

**- - -**

Well? What do you think?

Just so you know, there were several hidden tidbits in there, unique bits that apply to one character. Like, if you've played the right action video games, you might recognize the whole metal suit concept from an installment of a series of games by Insomniac. If you can find all of them, I might make a sequel. You can comb it as many times as you want. Take notes, though. There are 21, and if you get the bonus one (which only someone who read my story The Return of the Legacy would know), I will make a sequel for sure. Pay close attention, and good luck!


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